


Sing a Song of Silence

by FortunateKitsune



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Gen, deep friendship, no romance here, no seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8835295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FortunateKitsune/pseuds/FortunateKitsune
Summary: A story about a pony in an unlikely position.





	

It’s a well known but rarely spoken of fact that there are certain names out there no one ever _intends_ to call their child. This is because such names are reserved for tiny gravestones, and not meant for a living person.

Among ponies, these names tend to have ‘Soil’ or ‘Lullaby’ in them, or (usually among nobles) they may reference things that don’t make noise.

One such name is rather specific to children of Pegasi, and that is _Swan_ , or anything to do with one. It refers to the legend that swans only sing once in their lifetime, and that time is right before they die. In essence, it _is_ their life, and you can’t sing a song that isn’t complete, right?

Meeting a pony with any of these in their name is obviously rare. Once they prove they’re going to make it, _of course_ the parents will change their name to something more appropriate… Except for the ones that don’t. You normally find out one way or the other within the first two years. In Cygnet’s case, they didn’t _really_ believe she was going to live until she was almost seven, and by then they had turned into the definition of hovering parents. And then they went and died.

See, they were super paranoid about danger and germs. And it was the day after a hospital visit. _And_ it was also Clean the House Day. Send their little darling to the tutor’s office, and scrub every inch of the place! With the leftover panic from the session, they were a little more distracted. She just started cleaning the toilet without actually checking it. And she was using _bleach._

Urine contains ammonia, which creates **chlorine gas** when mixed with bleach. She got a big nose full of it, fell and cracked her head open. It sat there in the bowl, filling the air and moving out of the room, down the nearby stairs, where her father was dusting. He choked, realized something was wrong, ran up the stairs through the cloud of death. The police found him outside the bathroom, when no one came to pick up Cygnet, staring at his wife’s corpse. Being so obsessive, they were _always_ on time…

She ended up in a group home, as my room mate. My case was much simpler, teenage accident turned over to The Authorities. The foster family was nice, older couple who never had kids, short term placement for foals considered to be easy adoptions. Cygnet was cute, and I earned my Mark early, in organization. (Gotta pack your suitcase just right, if you want to keep your stuff.) We got adopted by families in the same town, her by the weather chief, and me by a local politician. Easier to parent a kid when they’ve done the important part already, and it made him look good, kept him in term a little longer. I didn’t care. I had a real friend, a bed that was mine alone for the next decade, and I could actually catch up in school! Worked so hard I finished everything early, days or weeks before it was due, so I tutored Cygnet. She finally got a cutie mark, wildlife management. We graduated top of our class, went to the same university. She got a degree in Animal Care and I got certified in Office Management. She works for the Everfree Curators, on the opposite side from Ponyville, and like heck was I going to be somewhere she wasn’t. So I followed her out here.

And _that’s_ why a unicorn is keeping the weather records while a pegasus is counting rabbits.

**Author's Note:**

> Ammonia plus bleach really does make chlorine. Please, remember to flush before cleaning your toilet, and before using one at some else's house.


End file.
